Do you have a good idea of how to use digital solutions to make cities more livable? If so, join an 11-city, 24-hour global digital hackathon that includes Dubai. Sign up no later than Monday, November 6th for the event hosted by Accenture in collaboration with Expo 2020 Dubai, and supported by GE.

The Accenture Digital Hackathon invites teams to prototype digital solutions that create a truly human city environment. There’s no fee, and it’s open to recent graduates, undergraduates, young entrepreneurs and start-ups with expertise in technology development, design and marketing.

Winning solutions will receive cash awards and a chance to be selected for the “Innovation Impact Grant Programme” run by Expo 2020 Dubai. Meanwhile individuals have the potential to be interviewed for jobs at Accenture Digital or elsewhere in the company.

The Dubai hackathon, which is supported by GE, Etisalat Digital, Google, and the American University of Sharjah, will be held concurrently in Chicago, Bangalore, Istanbul, London, Manila, Mexico City, Monterrey, Rome, Shanghai, and Singapore. GE is supporting with judges and prizes for local winners in the Dubai and Istanbul events.

The hackathon will take place November 11 and 12, and will focus on solutions focused on two elements:

Putting humans at the heart of the experience

Using the latest digital technologies including wearables, artificial intelligence, analytics, augmented and virtual reality, blockchain and the Internet of Things

Accenture will award prizes with a total value of up to US$80,000 to the top teams in each city, region (Europe and Middle East, North America and Latin America, and Asia), and globally. The best works will be determined by a panel of judges of experienced practitioners from Accenture, Expo 2020 Dubai and local sponsors.

Expo 2020 Dubai will select its favorite project from among the three regional winners and shortlist it for the Expo Live “Innovation Impact Grant Programme.” The program is expected to provide winning projects with grants of up to US$100,000 and a chance to showcase their innovations at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Individual participants demonstrating exceptional teamwork, problem-solving and goal orientation skills whose profiles are in line with Accenture’s recruitment plans, may be interviewed for roles in Accenture Digital, or elsewhere in the company.

During the hackathon, participants from all cities will connect in quiz games, virtual talks and tutorials. Mentors from Accenture will help them define and develop their project concepts.

GE is a natural partner to this hackathon, as the world’s digital industrial company. We have held dozens of hackathons around the world focused on Predix, GE’s application development platform for the Industrial Internet of Things. In the region, we held an automotive industry hackathon in Turkey and a healthcare industry hackathon in Saudi Arabia. Read more stories here about this work across the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Pakistan region.